The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences tonight recognized the film “Inocente,” a fearless documentary about a 15-year-old undocumented girl living in Los Angeles who copes with homelessness, her immigration status, family turmoil, and the challenges of adolescence all at once.

In winning the “Oscar” for Best Documentary Short, the film has not only validated the hard work and creative talent of its creators but also the trying experience of Inocente Izucar and hundreds of thousands of young women like her whose lives are shaped by federal laws and migration forces that are beyond their control.

Although policies like Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) have helped to empower this class of young people so they can come out of the shadows and live a semblance of a normal life, much work remains to be done to pass legislation like the DREAM Act or comprehensive immigration reform that would legalize the status of and offer a path to citizenship to millions of unauthorized immigrants.